The trail begins under the orange trees and continues right. You are on the right path if you see numerous signs warning you of the mountain lions. Follow the trail into a box canyon. Wind around for about 1 mile before you begin to climb. The trail gets VERY steep but not technical. I have to walk quite a bit. After reaching the summit, the return trip is mostly down hill. The San Fernando Vally can be seen very well from the summit. If you take a wrong turn, you may come out on Neon Way behind a house with a ferocious dog (just kidding, the dog is loud but friendly). Follow Neon Way to Sesnon and take a left back to the park.

Take I-405 North from LA until you pass 118. Take the Rinaldi Exit. Take a left on Sepulveda. Take a right on Rinaldi. Take a left on San Fernando. Take a left on Balboa. Take a right on Sesnon. Follow Sesnon to O'Melveny Park.

Summary:This trail offers a good quick workout if you don't have a lot of time.

Recommended Route:We usually park at O'Melveny Park, ride south on Sesnon, turn right on Jolette, left on Doric and finally right on Neon. You'll see the start of the fire road on your left at the end of Neon. Just climb the fire road until you reach a wrought iron fence about a couple of miles up. From there, you can go up to Three Trees through a short but loose and sandy ST. I have to hike this section and I have yet to see anyone ride it. From the Three Trees, you can continue on down the fire road (I heard it goes all the way to Valencia but we never go past the first switchback which is only about a hundred yards away on your left. Go up the switchback and it takes you up to Mission Peak where there's a plaque honoring Dr. De Campos, who the fire road is actually named after. From here, head back all the way down to where the fence is. You'll see a ST on your left. It's a fun ST back down to O'Melveny Park but watch out because this is a popular hiking trail. If you prefer, you can also head back down the fire road but there are several singletracks shortcuts that cuts across the fire road. Be careful though, they're steep and full of loose rocks.

Other recommended trails in the same area:Limekiln Canyon on Tampa and Rinaldi. It's short but you can always do as many loops as you like ;).

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Review DateFebruary 5, 2004

Overall Rating 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:Ridden Once

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Reviewed by: HipnoticMonkey
,
Weekend Warrior

Summary:This was a pretty fun trail. We ended up hike-a-biking up the single back because we were not aware of the fire road. There are a lot of steep hills on this fire road, which made for some fast down hilling. The trail was slightly over grown but it just added to the challenge. This was actually the first trail so far where we saw a deer jumping up the hill. I’m still a little beat from the over grown bushes and stuff, but I definitely want to hit up this trail soon. There are so many other single back trails we passed while doing this trail…so it’s definitely a trail that has many options. The downhill was very fast and curvy…at a lot of points I was hanging on the edge just to keep my line. I liked this trail a lot…it’s definitely part of my yearly rotation now.

You can take the fireroad up to mission peak and take the single back all the way down to the parking lot. The enterence to the fire road is just west to the park in at the dead end of a neighborhood.

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Review DateAugust 13, 2002

Overall Rating 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:Once a week

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Reviewed by: Raymond E. age 12
, from mission hills

Summary:Begin at the orange grove at the sign indicating the beginning of the Nature trail. Keep right and do not follow the next sign for the nature trail, its an uphill battle (very steep). Continue on through the park passing all the lawn picnic areas and you will then find yourself entering a trail bordered by mass shrubbery. The trail is fun, but requires a lot of uphill climbing. The dry creek provides for a quick little adventure ride. Most dips are about five feet steep. Not bad, just scary looking. The three miles of the trail that I was able to complete was adventurous, fun, and strenuous. I've just started riding the trail and I have visited it once a week for the last three weeks. Only after reading this site I find out it's more of an advanced level trail. The best part is on the return. Because the most of the trip from the beginning is an ascent, the return is a fun downgrade ride. Be careful for sharp turns, slippery dirt and because of narrow paths, watch for hikers, although very scarce. Beware of resting your hands on any of the trees for you will find your hand immediately covered with large ants that bite. Its not bad for beginners, just be prepared to do a lot of slippery climbing. I found it to be quite difficult. I rated it a three because I fell on the trail. Be careful.

Recommended Route:From L.A. take I-5 north and merge onto the 118 west. take the balboa exit and turn right. traveling on balboa, make a left on sesnon. park in the parking lot of o'melvany park.

Other recommended trails in the same area:Dirt Mulholland. Located on the other side of the SF Valley

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Review DateJanuary 7, 2002

Overall Rating 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:Once a month

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Reviewed by: Gavin
, from Northridge, CA

Summary:A fun ride. Zelzah creek trail is filled with hikers, runners and horses on the weekends so go early. This section is slightly uphill on the way out with a few creek crossings and some very short somewhat rocky climbs. It is very tempting to fly down on the way back but again watch for people. The climb up to mission peak from Neon is steep. Be ready for over two miles of good climbing before it flattens out a bit before the top. The trail is in really good shape and not too technical. For the descent the single track described above is narrow, has some technical sections and is very fun. At times it gets overgrown which limits your speed but it is definately worth the climb. There is another singletrack/hiking trail that descends straight down from mission peak (you will definately see it on your way up). I tried this once but didn't find it to be very fun, too steep for me. Total length...10-12 miles and definitley a good workout.

Recommended Route:Start near the intersection of Zelzah and Rinaldi and take the trail up the canyon along Zelzah Creek. After almost 1.5 mi take the short climb to the right. This takes you to a fire road that will take you to Sesnon. Once on Sesnon take a left on Neon Way (about a quarter mile up, second street on the left)and take the trail at the end of street. This is the beginning of a 2.5 mile climb to Mission Peak. For the descent either go the way you came or for a fun alternative there is a singletrack that descends to the west at the corner of the last switchback before three trees. A short, steep, technical descent takes you to a fire road that turns to pavement. Take the pavement a while to another singletrack on yout left. This one will drop you at the end of Sesnon at the fire road that returns to Zelzah Creek and where you parked.

Other recommended trails in the same area:The trail at the top of Tampa.

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Review DateJanuary 5, 2002

Overall Rating 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:Once a week

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Reviewed by: Mark P.
, from Granada Hills

Summary:This route is more rideable than from the park to Mission Peak. I've ridden around the SFV for over 12 years and I've yet to find a 2.5 mile, 1,100 elevation gain that is more demanding than this. Over the past 3-4 years what used to be a well maintained fire road has decayed into a ST/double track climb that is an extremely demanding 26-33 minute accent. Closer to the the fire road reappears, but by then you've done all the hard work. From the peak, 2,200 ft. you have views of the entire valley, Valencia and ocassionally downtown. You have many options from the peak. You can head west and jump the ranchers fence and ride for 10-20 miles into Simi Valley, if you can avoid the rancher. If you are looking for a short return you have two options: You've got 2 sections of demanding, rutted technical 50-55 degree ST drops from the top. At the bottom of the 2nd drop you can veer left for a ST run into O'Melveny Park or follow the route you came up, but follow the single track sections for a quick, but awesome trip down. This is a good 45-50 minute ride when you are looking for a quick work out. You'll be walking alot of the accent if you aren't in good shape.

Recommended Route:Neon to Three Trees/Mission Peak

Other recommended trails in the same area:Hwy. 14 to San Fernando Rd. Good climb to the fire station (2,500 - 3,000 elevation gain) and you can hit Viper on the way back down or hit a number of other trails that will lead you North to Placerita Cyn. Rd. or into Sylmar.

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